Nehemiah 9

1 And in the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel have been gathered with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them;

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and in sackcloths, and with ashes on their head.

2 and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,

And the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 and rise up on their station, and read in the Scroll of the Law of their God YHWH a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to their God YHWH.

And they stood in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their god: and they confessed [their sins] to the Lord, and worshipped the Lord their God.

4 And there stand up on the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, and they cry with a loud voice to their God YHWH.

[And] there stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jesus, and the sons of Cadmiel, Sechenia the son of Sarabia, sons of Choneni; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

5 And the Levites say, [even] Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, “Rise, bless your God YHWH, From age to age, And they bless the Name of Your glory That [is] exalted above all blessing and praise.

And the Levites, Jesus and Cadmiel, said, Rise up, bless the Lord our God forever and ever: and let them bless thy glorious name, and exalt it with all blessing and praise.

6 You [are] He, O YHWH, Yourself—You have made the heavens, The heavens of the heavens, and all their host, The earth and all that [are] on it, The seas and all that [are] in them, And You are keeping all of them alive, And the host of the heavens are bowing themselves to You.

And Esdras said, Thou art the only true Lord; thou madest the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all their array, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all things in them; and thou quickenest all things, and the hosts of heaven worship thee.

7 You [are] He, O YHWH God, Who fixed on Abraham, And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, And made his name Abraham,

Thou art the Lord God, thou didst choose Abram, and broughtest him out of the land of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of Abraam:

8 And found his heart steadfast before You, So as to make with him the covenant, To give the land of the Canaanite, The Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, To give [it] to his seed. And You establish Your words, For You [are] righteous,

and thou foundest his heart faithful before thee, and didst make a covenant with him to give to him and to his seed the land of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Pherezites, and Jebusites, and Gergesites; and thou hast confirmed thy words, for thou [art] righteous.

9 And see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And their cry have heard by the Sea of Suph,

And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and thou heardest their cry at the Red Sea.

10 And give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, And on all his servants, And on all the people of his land, For You have known that they have acted proudly against them, And You make to Yourself a name as [at] this day.

And thou shewedst signs and wonders in Egypt, on Pharao and all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knowest that they behaved insolently against them: and thou madest thyself a name, as at this day.

11 And You have cleaved the sea before them, And they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, And their pursuers You have cast into the depths, As a stone, into the strong waters.

And thou didst cleave the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land; and thou didst cast into the deep them that were about to pursue them, as a stone in the mighty water.

12 And by a pillar of cloud You have led them by day, And by a pillar of fire by night, To lighten to them the way in which they go.

And thou guidedst them by day by a pillar of cloud, and by night by a pillar of fire, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

13 And on Mount Sinai You have come down, Even to speak with them from the heavens, And You give to them right judgments, And true laws, good statutes and commands.

Also thou camest down upon mount Sina, and thou spakest to them out of heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and laws of truth, ordinances, and good commandments.

14 And Your holy Sabbath You have made known to them, And commands, and statutes, and law, You have commanded for them, By the hand of Your servant Moses;

And thou didst make known to them thy holy sabbath; thou didst enjoin upon them commandments, and ordinances, and a law, by the hand of thy servant Moses.

15 And bread from the heavens You have given to them for their hunger, And water from a rock have brought out to them for their thirst, And say to them to go in to possess the land That You have lifted up Your hand to give to them.

And thou gavest them bread from heaven for their food, and thou broughtest them forth water from a rock for their thirst; and thou badest them go in to inherit the land over which thou stretchedst out thy hand to give [it] them.

16 And they and our fathers have acted proudly, And harden their neck, And have not listened to Your commands,

But they and our fathers behaved proudly, and hardened their neck, and did not hearken to thy commandments,

17 Indeed, they refuse to listen, And have not remembered Your wonders that You have done with them, And harden their neck and appoint a head, To turn back to their service, in their rebellion; And You [are] a God of pardons, Gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, And have not forsaken them.

and refused to listen, and remembered not thy wonders which thou wroughtest with them; and they hardened their neck, and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt: but thou, O God, [art] merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, and thou didst not forsake them.

18 Also, when they have made to themselves a molten calf, And say, This [is] your god That brought you up out of Egypt, And do great despisings,

And still farther they even made to themselves a molten calf, and said, These [are] the gods that brought us up out of Egypt: and they wrought great provocations.

19 and You, in Your abundant mercies, Have not forsaken them in the wilderness—The pillar of the cloud has not turned aside from off them by day, To lead them in the way, And the pillar of the fire by night, To give light to them and the way in which they go.

Yet thou in thy great compassions didst not forsake them in the wilderness: thou didst not turn away from them the pillar of the cloud by day, to guide them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

20 And Your good Spirit You have given, To cause them to act wisely; And Your manna You have not withheld from their mouth, And water You have given to them for their thirst,

And thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them, and thou didst not withhold thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water in their thirst.

21 And forty years You have nourished them in a wilderness; They have not lacked; Their garments have not worn out, And their feet have not swelled.

And thou didst sustain them forty years in the wilderness; thou didst not allow anything to fail them: their garments did not wax old, and their feet were not bruised.

22 And You give to them kingdoms, and peoples, And apportion them to the corner, And they possess the land of Sihon, And the land of the king of Heshbon, And the land of Og king of Bashan.

Moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms, and didst divide nations to them: and they inherited the land of Seon king of Esebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.

23 And You have multiplied their sons as the stars of the heavens, And bring them into the land That You have said to their fathers to go in to possess.

And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land of which thou spokest to their fathers;

24 And the sons come in, and possess the land, And You humble the inhabitants of the land—the Canaanites—before them, And give them into their hand, and their kings, And the peoples of the land, To do with them according to their pleasure.

And they inherited it: and thou didst destroy from before them the dwellers in the land of the Chananites, and thou gavest into their hands them and their kings, and the nations of the land, to do unto them as it pleased them.

25 And they capture fortified cities, and fat ground, And possess houses full of all good, Dug-wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, And fruit-trees in abundance, And they eat, and are satisfied, And become fat, And delight themselves in Your great goodness.

And they took lofty cities, and inherited houses full of all good things, wells dug, vineyards, and oliveyards, and every fruit tree in abundance: so they ate, and were filled, and grew fat, and rioted in thy great goodness.

26 And they are disobedient, And rebel against You, And cast Your law behind their back, And Your prophets they have slain, Who testified against them, To bring them back to You, And they do great despisings,

But they turned, and revolted from thee, and cast thy law behind their backs; and they slew thy prophets, who testified against them to turn them back to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

27 And You give them into the hand of their adversaries, And they distress them, And in the time of their distress they cry to You, And You, from the heavens, hear, And according to Your abundant mercies, Give saviors to them, And they save them out of the hand of their adversaries.

Then thou gavest them into the hand of them that afflicted them, and they did afflict them: and they cried to thee in the time of their affliction, and thou didst hear them from thy heaven, and in thy great compassions gavest them deliverers, and didst save them from the hand of them that afflicted them.

28 And when they have rest, They turn back to do evil before You, And You leave them in the hand of their enemies, And they rule over them; And they return, and call You, And You hear from the heavens, And deliver them many times, According to Your mercies,

But when they rested, they did evil again before thee: so thou leftest them in the hands of their enemies, and they ruled over them: and they cried again to thee, and thou heardest [them] from heaven, and didst deliver them in thy great compassions.

29 And testify against them, To bring them back to Your law; And they have acted proudly, And have not listened to Your commands, And against Your judgments have sinned—Which man does and has lived in them—And they give a stubborn shoulder, And have hardened their neck, And have not listened.

And thou didst testify against them, to bring them back to thy law: but they hearkened not, but sinned against thy commandments and thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them; and they turned their back, and hardened their neck, and heard not.

30 And You draw over them many years, And testify against them by Your Spirit, By the hand of Your prophets, And they have not given ear, And You give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,

Yet thou didst bear long with them many years, and didst testify to them by thy Spirit by the hand of thy prophets: but they hearkened not; so thou gavest them into the hand of the nations of the land.

31 and in Your abundant mercies You have not made them a consumption, Nor have forsaken them; For a God, gracious and merciful, [are] You.

But thou in thy many mercies didst not appoint them to destruction, and didst not forsake them; for thou art strong, and merciful, and pitiful.

32 And now, O our God—God, the great, the mighty, And the fearful, Keeping the covenant and the kindness—Do not let all the travail that has found us be little before You, For our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, And for our prophets, and for our fathers, And for all Your people, From the days of the kings of Asshur to this day;

And now, O our God, the powerful, the great, the mighty, and the terrible, keeping thy covenant and thy mercy, let not all the trouble seem little in thy sight which has come upon us, and our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and upon all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assur even to this day.

33 And You [are] righteous concerning all that has come on us, For You have done truth, And we have done wickedly;

But thou [art] righteous in all the things that come upon us; for thou hast wrought faithfully, but we have greatly sinned.

34 And our kings, our heads, Our priests, and our fathers, Have not done Your law, Nor attended to Your commands, And to Your testimonies, That You have testified against them;

And our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our fathers, have not performed thy law, and have not given heed to thy commandments, and [have not kept] thy testimonies which thou didst testify to them.

35 And they, in their kingdom, And in Your abundant goodness, That You have given to them, And in the land, the large and the fat, That You have set before them, Have not served You, Nor turned back from their evil doings.

And they did not serve thee in thy kingdom, and in thy great goodness which thou gavest to them, and in the large and fat land which thou didst furnish before them, and they turned not from their evil devices.

36 Behold, we—today—[are] servants, And the land that You have given to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its good, Behold, we [are] servants on it,

Behold, we are servants this day, and [as for] the land which thou gavest to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good things of it, behold, we are servants upon it:

37 And its increase it is multiplying to the kings Whom You have set over us In our sins; And over our bodies they are ruling, And over our livestock, According to their pleasure, And we [are] in great distress.

and its produce [is] abundant for the kings whom thou didst appoint over us because of our sins; and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, as it pleases them, and we are in great affliction.

38 And for all this we are making a steadfast covenant, And are writing, And over him who is sealed [Are] our heads, our Levites, [and] our priests.”

And in regard to all these circumstances we make a covenant, and write [it], and our princes, our Levites, [and] our priests, set their seal to [it].